Brueelia (Painjunirmus) parva ( Mey, 2017 )

Gustafsson, Daniel R. & Bush, Sarah E., 2024, Resurrection of Painjunirmus Ansari, 1947 (Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) as a subgenus of Brueelia Kéler, 1936, with description of one new species, European Journal of Taxonomy 968, pp. 174-199 : 193-194

Brueelia (Painjunirmus) parva ( Mey, 2017)

Garrulaxeus parvus Mey, 2017: 164–165 , fig. 88, pl. XVI fig. 1.

Brueelia parva – Gustafsson et al. 2019d: 273.

Type host

Argya gularis (Blyth, 1855) – white-throated babbler.

Type locality

Thityapante, 50 km S of Magwe, Myanmar.

Remarks

The placement of Garrulaxeus parvus Mey, 2017 , in Br. ( Painjunirmus ) is based on the photo provided with the original description, which is compatible with Br. ( Painjunirmus ). The photo provided by Mey (2017) lacks detail on important characters such as the preantennal structure, head, leg and abdominal chaetotaxy, and the structure of the male genitalia. In the photo this species appears to have aps on tergopleurites III–IV, similar to Br. brevipennis , but unlike this species, Br. parva also appear to have psps on tergopleurite IV; other chaetotaxy cannot be assessed accurately, as it is not clear which are dorsal and which are ventral setae in the photo. If the minute setae seen centrally on segments II–VI are ss, this would indicate that this species may belong to some subgenus of Priceiella . It is thus possible that Garrulaxeus parvus does not belong in Br. ( Painjunirmus ), but a complete redescription is necessary before this species can be accurately placed and compared to other species in the Brueelia -complex.

It should be noted that the male genitalia of this species, as illustrated by Mey (2017), are difficult to homologize to any genus of the Brueelia -complex, as they are illustrated in the everted position, and the mesosome appears severely distorted. The parameral heads do not appear to be folded medianly in this species, and the distal mesosome appears to be dominated by paired, roughly rectangular, nodi, which may represent the mesosomal lobes. However, the rest of the mesosome is difficult to reconcile with the morphology of any Brueelia -complex genus known from babblers, and it is possible that the illustrated genitalia are too distorted to be adequately compared. No other illustrations were provided by Mey (2017), and the description includes no characters that are useful for placing this species in any genus. The female of this species is unknown.

Attempts to communicate with Mey about the species described in his 2017 paper, have been unanswered, and we have thus not been able to examine the holotype of Garrulaxeus parvus . Based on what can be seen in Mey’s photo of the whole body of the male, Garrulaxeus parvus may be separated from all other species of Br. ( Painjunirmus ) by the relatively broad and short preantennal area.